SPORTS IN BRIEF
Feb 25, 1948 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin, the young coloured Leamington middle-weight, will have his first contest over eight rounds against Vince Hawkins, the British champion, at Harringay, on March 16.

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VARIETY AT HARRINGAY
Mar 17, 1948 (The Times)

There were several champions in the ring but no national titles involved at Harringay last night. The interest lay instead in the form of several men regarded as champions-to-be now pitted against boxers of greater maturity and wider experience than themselves.

The meeting of Vince Hawkins, the middles champion, and the as yet undefeated Randolph Turpin had the honour of heading the programme though it was no more than an eight-round contest. Turpin's brother, Dick, had recently beaten Hawkins, but not for the title. Randolph Turpin in any case had to prove whether his renowned swiftness and severity of punch, would enable him to do as well. He had never boxed eight rounds before and Hawkins's strength was expected to test his stamina.

Turpin was very subdued at first but he began to let loose in the third round and Hawkins, it was apparent, would have to get in to close quarters and stay there in order to win. Turpin, indeed was confidence itself in round four and, hitting hard and quickly, as he can with both hands, he scored a number of telling blows to the jaw. Hawkins fought back hard at close quarters but Turpin in turn stood up well. He was none the less inviting trouble to fight it out toe to toe in round five. Though he survived easily enough he had accepted many blows he easily could have avoided. He similarly invited a heavy body blow in round six but fought back so magnificently that Hawkins was battered almost to a standstill. Turpin himself needed all the attention of his seconds at the interval.

There were two rounds to go. Turpin continued to take a chance and a share of the punishment, but he floored his man just before the bell, It was the same to the end. Turpin seemed determined at all costs to land a knock-out blow, but Hawkins's strength and courage enabled him to hold out to the finish. There was no questioning Turpin's dramatic victory on points.

SPORTS IN BRIEF
July 7, 1949 (The Times)

The British Boxing Board of Control has applied to the European Boxing Union for Randolph Turpin (Leamington) to be recognized as official contender for the European middleweight championship held by Livio Minelli, of Italy.

CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHTS AT HARRINGAY
Oct 17, 1950 (The Times)

There will be two contests of some interest at Harringay to-night, when Albert Finch will defend his British middle-weight title against Randolph Turpin and Don Cockell and Mark Hart meet for the light heavy-weight championship, which was thrown open by the retirement of Freddie Mills.

Finch and Hart both come from Croydon. Finch won his title from Randolph Turpin's elder brother Dick. Randolph thus is engaged upon a domestic venture as well as an endeavour to reverse the decision gained over himself by Finch on points in 1948. The contest between Cockell and Hart also is a return match, Cockell having beaten his man 18 months ago.

Finch is likely to rely largely upon his improving boxing skill to defeat the aggressive Turpin, who generally is at his best in the earlier rounds. Cockell's hard hitting is likely to account for Hart and carry the former perhaps into the running for a match with Maxim, the American champion.

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VICTORIES FOR TURPIN AND COCKELL
Oct 18, 1950 (The Times)

Two British titles were at stake in the Harringay ring last night. Albert Finch, of Croydon, defended his middleweight championship against Randolph Turpin of Leamington Spa, and lost it in the fifth round. Mark Hart, another boxer from Croydon, contested the light heavyweight championship, left vacant by Freddie Mills when he retired, with Don Cockell of Battersea. Here the result was a slow but sure victory for Cockell, the harder hitter, who at long last landed a punch from which Hart could not recover in time in the 14th round.

Finch was fighting the younger brother of the man from whom he had won the title, at a second attempt, about six months previously. As in addition, Randolph Turpin, who always had refused to box his brother Dick, also had a defeat on points by Finch to cancel out if possible, the present contest had a number of intriguing features about it. Broadly speaking, it was a bout between a steady boxer, still without a heavy punch to clinch matters, and a dashing attacking fighter who was quite capable of winning inside a few rounds, but equally so was apt to fall away if held to a longer distance.

Sure enough, Turpin went in to force the issue but did too much slapping at first to be really dangerous. He was hardly more effective in the second round during which his opponent did little except clip him once or twice on the jaw at close quarters. Turpin continued to do all the attacking and in the third round succeeded in opening a small cut on Finch's left check bone. This and some heavy blows to the body made the champion wilt a little. Turpin, one felt, would do badly if he could not press home this advantage against an opponent who clearly could do little more than score an occasional boxing point.

Turpin did follow tip and he had Finch on the floor for a count of eight in the next round. Two left hooks to the jaw scored another knock down as the bell went. Finch now looked a beaten man, and the fifth round had been in progress for barely a minute when a measured right to the jaw regained the title for the Turpin family. The new champion, wearing his bell, and his elder brother Dick were duly photographed arm in arm in the ring.

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BRITISH HOPES AT HARRINGAY
Dec 12, 1950 (The Times)

Three British boxing hopes in varying stages of development will be on view at Harringay to-night. There were to have been four, but Algar Smith, the former amateur champion, is unable to meet Peter Fallon, the Birkenhead welter.

Randolph Turpin, who recently won the British middleweight title and still is only 22 years of age, has been matched with Tommy Yarosz, an American of undoubted class though little known over here. Several years ago Dave Sands, the Australian champion, at about the same stage of his career as Turpin, met Yarosz only to be given a badly needed if painful lesson in boxing. Yarosz, like so many Americans, is a master of the left jab and, if he is the man he used to be, he should throw some light on Turpin's projected match with the world's outstanding welter, Ray Robinson, who, with a cruel irony, has been nicknamed " Sugar." Robinson by next year may have added the world's middleweight title to his 101 triumphs. Turpin will have to beat Yarosz in the manner of the fully competent craftsman if he is to have the remotest chance against Robinson.

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TWO BRITISH VICTORIES
Dec 13, 1950 (The Times)

Three British boxers at an interesting stage of their career appeared at Harringay last night, two matched against Americans of some repute, and the other against an unknown Nigerian. Two victories in these three contests were perhaps as much as any one had any right to expect. In the most important contest of the three Randolph Turpin, the new British middleweight champion, met Tommy Yarosz, a clever and experienced American already known to this country by his defeat of Dave Sands, the Australian champion, in the same ring two years previously. Turpin, after a brilliant start, did not have matters all his own way, but he became the winner, not without justice and reason, when the referee disqualified Yarosz in the eighth round for persistent holding. The way in which Turpin fell away after a good start, however, boded ill for his prospects if ever he meets the great Ray Robinson.

TURPIN TO MEET ROBINSON
July 10, 1951 (The Times)

To-night at Earls Court Randolph Turpin, the British middle-weight champion, takes on the man who is generally accepted as the greatest fighter of his day, pound for pound-or, indeed, for some pounds over-the redoubtable Ray Robinson from America. Should Turpin win he will become the first British boxer since Bob Fitzsimmons to hold the world title at ll½ stone.

Most people cannot help regarding the match as a forlorn hope, but one gathers that Turpin himself feels that whatever he lacks in boxing experience and even skill may well be offset by his quickness and weight of punch. Robinson can hardly fail to inspire confidence. One may smile a little at the size and variety of his entourage but not at his fighting record. Turpin, for his part, surely deserves the good wishes of all who admire the man who takes a sporting chance.

One has to go back to 1927 to find a contest in a British ring which properly compares with to-night's. Then another of our middle-weights, the deservedly popular and respected Tommy Milligan of Glasgow, readily allowed himself to be matched with one of the truly great world champions in Mickey Walker. By contrast with Turpin, Milligan depended not upon the swift landing of some decisive punch but upon his all-round boxing ability. Some attributed Milligan's defeat in the 12th round to stupid seconding and a policy of trying to force the issue instead of " standing off." But the painful fact, which soon became evident, was that Milligan could neither outpoint nor' outfight a man of Walker's class. Milligan was battered to helplessness by a shrewder fighter, a harder hitter, and a stronger man than

It may be said that if Mulligan was a better and steadier boxer than Turpin, he lacked the latter's quickness in delivering a heavy punch. How far that, by comparison, improves Turpin's chances remains to be seen for Robinson can hit very hard indeed as well as box brilliantly - at a swifter pace than Walker, if not quite so powerfully at close quarters.

Robinson is superbly built at 5ft. 11in. in height - a shade taller than Turpin, and so far, at any rate, has faced the ll½ stone men as successfully as he did those of a stone less. At 31 years of age, he can still be reckoned as in his prime, the more so as his exceptional skill has spared him much of the punishment which comes the way of the ordinary boxer. His training, too, is mostly of the most valuable kind-in the ring, in actual contests. Turpin is eight years the younger man, but one wonders how far those eight years represent any physical advantage or, in reverse, a boxing handicap.

Robinson's ring record tells a story which requires no trimming with adjectives. Starting, like Turpin, as an amateur, he won all of his 85 contests. In 11 years of professional fighting he has lost only once and drawn twice in 130 bouts. Eighty-two of his opponents have been knocked out or saved from that by the intervention of the referee. The one man who beat him, Jake LaMotta,. held an advantage in weight and subsequently was himself beaten four times by Robinson. Turpin was an outstanding A.B.A. champion, and 40 of his 43 bouts as a professional have been won inside the distance, but how can one compare his opponents, including even Yarosz, with many of those who have gone down to Robinson ?

The real danger to Turpin, of course, lies in the weakness common to most modern British boxers of leaving themselves wide open directly they try to force matters. Only if he can rectify that fault on this occasion will his hopes cease to be forlorn and Robinson be compelled to remember his visit to Britain with fistic respect. Above all else, perhaps, one hopes for clean boxing, competent refereeing, and a sporting crowd.

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TURPIN'S WORLD TITLE
July 11, 1951 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin upset every calculation, even to a great extent perhaps his own, by gaining a boxing victory over the famous Ray Robinson at Earls Court last night. Not, after all, any one heavy punch, but his ability to win seven of the 15 rounds on points, with three even, enabled Turpin to become the first British citizen since Robert Fitzsimmons to hold the middle-weight championship of the world.

Turpin had a tumultuous reception as. he was hurried through the shadows and spotlights to his corner, but even that was nothing to the mounting enthusiasm aroused by his surprising efforts in the ring, and still less to the deafening applause which greeted his well-earned triumph. One cannot recall such a scene as that which followed the raising of his arm as the victor by the referee, Mr. E. Henderson. The crowd broke into " For he's a jolly good fellow " as Mr. Onslow Fane entered the ring and presented Turpin on behalf of the British Boxing Board of Control with a silver gilt globe which has become the outward visible sign of any British success- all too few-in a bout for a world championship in a British ring.

Very few of the crowd of 18,000 can have seen Robinson in action before and, if Turpin needed a further tribute to his fighting skill, it could have been found in the fact that the spectators were left wondering till the end if the man reputed to be the greatest boxer of his day was indeed all he had been said to be. Robinson was swift and graceful and clever enough, but never once master of the situation. His cautious, tentative start was understandable in view of the threat of Turpin's swift and heavy punch. Yet, if the bout opened with two even rounds it must be said that they pointed to a Turpin rather than a Robinson victory which of itself was amazing.

It was not, one repeats, so much Turpin's heavy punch-though his lefts from the start had more sting and weight behind them than Robinson's - which prevented the latter from speeding up to effect in the way expected of him. Once, in the third round, Robinson brought off a long left almost in the manner of Jimmy Wilde with both feet off the ground, but as Turpin was not in the least perturbed by these and other spectacular punches it was the American who had to do most of the escaping from the tight corners. Turpin. in fact, won the next three rounds in a row, not by much but with such surprising steadiness that Robinson's sporadic outbursts of brilliance ended as often as not either in a miss or a Turpin counter-attack.

Robinson's speed, which enabled him to land some whip-lash lefts and rights, gave him the sixth round, but in the next there came a clinch - and it may well have been a clash of heads- from which Robinson emerged with a cut eye. The Americans' ability to deal with such matters spared Robinson serious trouble through the injury, but although his turns of speed and cleverness came to his rescue in the eighth round, he was also being made to miss an amazing number of times. Clearly Turpin was achieving three vitally important things- he was both leading and countering harder than his opponent, and, after all, he was not leaving himself too open. He was also the stronger in clinches and gaining rather than losing in confidence.

That Robinson was far from sure of himself was revealed in the way in which he sometimes lost sight of his man in leading. Both men too often stayed in clinches, but the referee was not kept busy all the time, and an early warning for using the kidney punch-oddly enough against Turpin not Robinson - had not to be repeated. Robinson achieved recovery to some extent in the 10th, 11th, and 12th rounds, but Turpin fought back so strongly, sometimes driving his man round the ring, that before the finish the crowd began to sense that he held perhaps the small but highly promising lead on points, and so it proved. Turpin's victory was well deserved in every way.

RAY HAS JOB IN BEATING TURPIN
Aug 19, 1951 (Morgan County News)

Around ten years ago - possibly more than ten - I was introduced to a slender young fellow at a flight camp in the hills, I had never seen him before, nor heard his name - Ray Robinson.

Now the same Robinson is facing the crucial test of a famous championship career. This means the test of survival - or being washed under by the surf of time. Robinson, ex-middleweight champion, is meeting the man who beat him so decisively in England a few weeks ago.

Randy Turpin, the English fighter, was practically unknown in this country before the Robinson fight. He was just another British punk facing the best living fighter, pound for pound. This was Sugar Ray Robinson's rating - the best in the business.

But Turpin, the unknown, whipped him decisively. But who whipped Robinson? Was it Turpin? Was it the six weeks un Paris and Germany? Was it the holiday jaunt? Or was it the inroad of ten years, so terrifically important in competitive sport? Important in the matter of reflexes, speed, timing and even power. Also stamina.

There are many, many things that make up competitive qualities needed to win. At a fight gathering a night or two back, there was a big division as to whether Robinson was below par or Turpin was the better fighter. Ray Arcel, one of the best conditioners in the trade, had another slant. Ray figures that Robinson was below his best and also that Turpin was a much better fighter than he had been rated.

"When a fighter is a little off," Ray says, "and then meets a much  better man than he was expecting to meet, the result is pretty sure to be  shock. Robinson will be a better fighter when he meets Turpin the second time. But that doesn't mean that Robinson is sure to win as the pictures show that the Englishman can both box and punch. Also that he can take a punch."

Ray Robinson is no old, worn-out fighter. But, after all, he has been around some ten years. He won the welterweight championship in 1946 and picked up the middleweight title Feb. 14, 1951. In his training he doesn't show you that he has slipped, but it could be different against a first-class opponent. Turpin is only 23. You may not have too much experience at 23, but you should be equipped with the speed, reflexes, and stamina.

When you watch Turpin at work you get the immediate idea that  he could be an extremely rough young man on any occasion. The average fight an doesn't quite understand how much wear and tear a popular fighter suffers in the course of years. Joe Louis took good care of himself, but he was suddenly old. He could see an opening as quickly as he used o see one, but he split second punch was gone.

Robinson at least has the advantage this time of the knowing the size of the job he faces. He wasn't expecting too much in England. today he knows it will take one of his best performances to win. There can be no alibi of sort in a second defeat. Not that Robinson has offered one for Turpin's victory. But he knows this time it must be an all out effort.

Robinson-Turpin Rematch May Smash Money Records
Sept 2, 1951 (The Hartford Courant)

The Randy Turpin-Ray Robinson return bout undoubtedly will smash all sorts of financial records for a non-heavyweight fight. The second scrap had to be a success from the moment the 23-year-old British Negro's hand was raised in triumph in London on July 10. In capturing the middleweight crown from the great Robinson, the English lad scored the most sensational boxing upset in years.

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TURPIN LOSES WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Sept 14, 1951 (The Times)

After holding the world middleweight title for 64 days Randolph Turpin lost it in the tenth round of his return contest with "Sugar" Ray Robinson at the Polo Grounds, here, last night.

The referee, Mr. Goldstein, stopped the bout eight seconds before the end of the round to save Turpin, as he insisted, from the possibility of serious injury. In this way Robinson regained his title on a technical knock-out. The referee's card gave both Turpin and Robinson four round each, with one even, but the latter held a points score of five to four. Both judges had marked Robinson al the winner at the time of the referee's intervention. One of them gave Robinson five rounds to three and the other five to four.

Robinson had turned what might have been defeat into victory. Soon after the opening of the tenth round Robinson emerged from a melee with a bad cut over his left eyebrow. It bled profusely and Robinson clearly thought he must do something quickly lest the bout be stopped in Turpin's favour. Lashing out ferociously with his right, he landed flush on Turpin's jaw. Turpin pitched forward, dazed and glassy-eyed, though retaining his footing. Robinson then gathered all his strength for a finishing blow. Another right shot into the British champion's jaw, and he went down for the first time in the fight. fie lay flat on his back for about three seconds. Then, slowly rising to his knees, he waited until the count of nine before getting up. Like a tiger Robinson pounced on his opponent, who was now an easy prey for the crushing blows he mined on his head and jaw. Turpin bore the punishment bravely but without covering up sufficiently and eight seconds before the end of the round the referee intervened.

Official figures showed that 61,370 had paid $767,630 (£274,152) for admission - a world record for other than a heavyweight contest. Robinson proved to be a different boxer from the man whom Turpin had defeated in London last July. On this occasion the American had found much of the answer to Turpin's style and he punched much harder too. Altogether Robinson had the better of the fight and Turpin was shaken at least three times by vicious blows to the jaw. Nevertheless, Turpin took the first round and had a possible edge in the seventh and ninth. Robinson took the second, third, sixth, and eighth as well as the last. The fourth and fifth were about even. There was a sharp division of opinion among ringside reporters as to whether Robinson or Turpin was leading at the time of the stoppage. Robinson was ahead on most cards, but there were enough Turpin votes to indicate the closeness of the battle. Robinson predominated on the cards of Americans writers, while some English writers also had Robinson ahead. Some continued to think that if the referee had allowed an eleventh round Turpin might have turned the scales.

It was not a great fight. Up to the tenth round it was mainly remarkable for its flurries of furious punching and the number of long sustained clinches. The bright spots came in bursts but were never sustained. After the first round Turpin's best was the ninth. In this he punched hard and often and Robinson went back to his corner looking tired. When Robinson's left eyebrow was split in a close-quarter exchange a few seconds after the opening of the tenth round Turpin's supporters had reason to believe that the tide had possibly turned. But Robinson's great right-hand punch a few seconds later shattered the dreams of another Turpin triumph.

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UNLUCKY DEFEAT FOR TURPIN
Sept 14, 1951 (The Times)

It is a long time since any fight has caused as much interest as that last night between Randolph Turpin and "Sugar" Ray Robinson. It is a pity that its end, a technical knock-out, should have raised doubts in some minds about the referee's decision. Turpin himself said that " the referee should not have stopped it."

"I was perfectly clear," he said; "there were eight seconds to go in the tenth round, and I was covering up. The doctor will confirm that." Asked why he made no attempt to raise his arms, he replied that if he had protected his head he would have left his stomach exposed, and that a blow to the stomach was more damaging than one to the head.

There was, however, general agreement that the referee was right to stop the fight when he did though in some respects Turpin was unlucky. Although Robinson was ahead on points at the beginning of the tenth round - farther ahead, in the view of most observers, than the judges' estimates he would have been in a bad way if his desperate attack had not succeeded.

He himself admitted that he launched it because the condition of his eye made him afraid that the referee would stop the fight and give the decision to Turpin. But some experts do not think he would have lasted even without the cut on his eye, and there will be plenty of American money on Turpin when they meet again. Turpin is thought not to have been at his best last night, and it was said that he was not as good a fighter as he was at Earls Court.

In one respect - the financial one - the evening was an unparalleled success. Never before has a fight, except a heavyweight one, taken over $1m. A total of 61,370 people paid $767,630 to see the fight at the polo ground; 35,000 more saw it televised at 14 theatres in 11 cities, and the motion picture rights were sold with a minimum guarantee of $200,000 - a figure which, thanks to the drama of the tenth round, should be exceeded without difficulty.

When the two men meet again the financial results should remind boxing promoters of the glorious days, which they never thought to see again, of the 1920s, when Dempsey and Tunney made fortunes overnight.

NEW YORK, Sept. 13. - Randolph Turpin at a Press conference to-night said, "The referee's decision is final; it's no good arguing, it doesn't change the decision." Turpin announced that he is not fighting any more this year, and he still meant to retire next September " whether or not I have fought Robinson by that time." When Turpin congratulated Robinson after the fight Robinson said: " Randy, you're the greatest fellow I've ever fought; if I lose the title I don't want anybody to have it, only you."

BOXERS COLLAPSE AFTER BOUT WITH TURPIN
Nov 2, 1951 (The Times)

A boxer named Francis Zibea, aged 22, of Birmingham, was taken unconscious to hospital after boxing for one and three-quarter minutes with Randolph Turpin in an exhibition bout on the stage of Birmingham Hippodrome last night. The bout was a feature of Turpin's music-hall act, and Zibea collapsed on the side of the stage after leaving the ring.

Mr. G. Middleton Turpin's manager, said that during the round Zibea did not go down. He climbed out of the ring, and collapsed when asked if he were all right. Both boxers were wearing 16oz, gloves.

TURPIN WINS IN SEVENTH ROUND
Feb 13, 1952 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin, British champion and former middle-weight champion of the world, beat Alex Buxton, of Watford, who retired at the end of the seventh round of their 10-round contest, at Harringay Arena, London, last night because of a badly cut left eye. It was not a good fight. There was too much holding. Turpin did nearly all the attacking and several times he hurt Buxton with right chops to the head and heavy blows with both hands to the body. Buxton deserves some praise because he fought from the first round with a bad cut over his left eyebrow as a result of collision of heads. This cut opened up in every round and obviously harassed Buxton a great deal.

Turpin was disappointing. Although he showed all his old fire there were many flaws in his judgment and the majority of his punches were woefully out of distance. Buxton gave a reasonably good account of himself and there were occasions when his short punches in the clinches hurt the champion. Most of the time, however, he gave the impression of being apprehensive and thereby acknowledged Turpin's superior punching power.

TURPIN'S EASY VICTORY
April 23, 1952 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin's first adventure among the light heavies, at Harringay last night, brought him a swift and decisive victory which may well have a powerful influence upon his subsequent career. Well inside three rounds Jacques Hairabedian, the French champion, was floored and counted out.

Turpin's first effective blow, a hook to his opponent's left eye, went far towards deciding the issue. Hairabedian was none too quick, and the blow made him apprehensive. Turpin was in no great hurry, but in the second round the severity of his punching was revealed when both of the Frenchman's eyes had to receive treatment during the interval. Turpin continued to be careful, but his mastery as a boxer was complete, and when in the third round Hairabedian ventured to let fly with a right to the head that hurt, the British middle-weight champion, who was giving away at least nine pounds, let go a terrific right hook in return which, if it did not score a true knockout, was enough to make his opponent fall flat on his face and stay there.

SPORTING NEWS
May 12, 1952 (The Times)

The Boxing Board of Control have decided to recognize the British light-heavy-weight championship fight between Don Cockell. the holder, and Randolph Turpin at the White City, London. on June 10 as being for the vacant Empire championship.

THE COCKELL - TURPIN FIGHT
June 10, 1952 (The Times)

To-night, in the open air at the White City, the scene of so many big fights in recent years, Don Cockell, the British light heavyweight champion, will defend his title against Randolph Turpin. who not long ago was a world champion at the middle-weight and still ranks as the British holder.

Denied a chance to have a third go at "Sugar" Ray Robinson, of America, Turpin, like the old master himself, has decided to see what he can do among the bigger men. He has had one surprisingly easy victory over a powerfully built but slow and lethargic French champion at 12½ stone. This was in marked contrast to the far from convincing victory of Cockell, a little time ago, over the Italian cruiser champion. On that form, the old and not very inspiring situation was created of one British champion meeting another from a lower division in the weights but holding, apparently, little chance of victory.

Yet, as one ventured to point out at the time, in fairness to Cockell, he was still not fully fighting fit when chasing Tontini round the ring at Harringay for 10 rather dreary rounds - dreary, that is, except for the second round, in which the Italian twice struck back hard, once flooring Cockell for a brief but ominous count. Those two swift counter-punches convinced everyone but the Italian himself that he had only to try them again at judicious intervals in the subsequent rounds to be at least an easy victor on points or, more probably, the scorer of a knock-out which probably would have ended Cockell's boxing career on the spot. Instead, there was clearly something about Cockell's slow but determined walk-in to fight, and once or twice the weight of his punch, which Tontini disliked intensely. And, so it seemed, the Italian threw away a fight he could have won and Cockell lived to train and fight another day.

What was more. Cockell, who has never taken kindly to rigorous training and weight reduction, succeeded in a surprisingly short time in shedding the extra pounds which had contributed to his slowness and, so one gathers, regained at the same time a little badly needed quickness and his old formidable belief in himself. How far he has redeveloped the devastating hooks which enabled him to slaughter the Americans Beshore and Barone, and how far he still is dangerously slow and open when meeting a hard and swift hitter like Turpin remains to be shown. Nor is it absolutely certain how Turpin himself will approach the contest - he was caution itself against Hairabedian until that boxer most unwisely, as it proved, lashed out and shook Turpin into action.

It is hard to imagine Cockell scoring a majority of the boxing points unless he can first weaken Turpin by some heavy blows. On the other hand, if Tontini could use his advantage in speed to floor a completely open Cockell as well as in defying him to catch him on the retreat, Turpin, boxing with anything like full confidence, should not fail to land heavily on the same slow-moving target. A week or so ago. the only reason for the contest seemed the right of Cockell to defend his title if he really wanted to. Now there would seem to be just that element of doubt about the result to keep the vast crowd which is sure to be present on tenterhooks - for at least a while. That does not alter one's 'belief that Turpin can win, and win decisively, if he uses his speed and punch with ample judgment.

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TURPIN OUTCLASSES COCKELL
June 11, 1952 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin proved himself in- finitely the better boxer when he met Don Cockell for the British light heavyweight championship at the White City last night Cockell had an occasional moment, he went down fighting as everyone knew he would, but, after taking two counts and a third staggering blow in the eleventh round, the referee intervened and gave the fight to Turpin. The night was fine and the permitted crowd of 50,000 saw a con- test in which speed combined with punching power enabled a brilliant middle- weight to outclass a painfully slow, if determined, cruiser.

Cockell looked keener and slightly more on his toes than in his recent contests, but Turpin's advantage in speed was obvious from the start. Nothing much happened in the first round, but after a little preliminary defensive work, Turpin stepped in with a stiff left hook to the jaw and followed it up so easily with a right and one or two other blows, that the second meeting was clearly and significantly his. Indeed, the bout very nearly ended abruptly in the next round when Turpin landed a swift right which sent Cockell down for a count of eight seconds. Yet Cockell was as full of fight as ever and his ability to get home an occasional pile driver to the ribs may well have holstered up his hopes which rested almost entirely upon the possibility that Turpin would weaken under a series of such punches.

Cockell's slender chances improved when he suddenly remedied the costly fault of lowering his guard and, although Turpin did the right thing too, and once more speeded up his fighting, it proved right when one hazarded the thought that all was not over yet. Cockell, in fact, though he was showing every sign of punishment on his face was still strong and willing to have a go offered half an opening. Turpin offered him several in round six, during which Cockell had the satisfaction of landing a stiff right among other punches.

Turpin used his speed to great effect in the next round, driving his opponent on to the defensive and staggering him with a right cross when, once, he managed to fight his way into what for a moment or two looked a promising attack. Cockell was now needing all his courage and determination and, though Turpin once or twice felt the weight of his hooks at close quarters, he had only to let the punches fly to have his man floundering and staggering and looking to clinches for security. It was not merely that Turpin outboxed a heavier but infinitely slower man, he outpunched him too.

The end came in the eleventh round. Cockell started the fighting and Turpin used the ring for a while. This was only a snare and a delusion. Cockell soon walked into a stiff right counter and went down for five seconds. In the subsequent melee he caught an even stiffer punch to the jaw and took a count of nine. On rising he had to deal with a tigerish Turpin, who realized that the great moment for him, at any rate, had come. Cockell went reeling to the ropes from another stiff punch, and the referee very wisely intervened and stopped the fighting.

Solomons Seeks Turpin-Maxim Fight
July 14, 1952 (The Washington Post)

Matchmaker Jack Solomons said today he will organize for September 16 or September 23 a fight between Joey Maxim, light heavyweight champion of the United States and Randolph Turpin, Britain's light heavyweight champion, with the world title at stake in London.

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HOME NEWS
July 26, 1952 (The Times)

At an auction sale held by Messrs. Jackson-Stops and Staff, of Chester, the Great Orme Hotel, Llandudno, was bought by Mr. Randolph Turpin and his partner, Mr. L. T. Salts, for £10,000.

SPORTING NEWS - BOXING
Sept 12, 1952 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin, the British champion, and George Angelo, of South Africa, will meet for the vacant Empire middleweight title at Harringay Arena, London, over 15 rounds on October 21.

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SPORTING NEWS - BOXING
Sept 17, 1952 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin, holder of the British light-heavyweight and middleweight championships, will not have to relinquish either of the titles for the time being. Under the rules of the British Boxing Board of Control Turpin was asked to nominate which title he would give up, but his manager, G. Middleton, pleaded for an extension of time.

The stewards of the board met yesterday and, after interviewing Middleton and the promoter J. Solomons, stated that, in view of the special circumstances and the fact that there were no outstanding challengers for either of Turpin's titles at the moment, they would not ask him to make any decision until ordered to do so by the board.

TURPIN AND TWO TITLES
Oct 21, 1952 (The Times)

The only British boxer seriously in the running for a world championship - two, in fact-at the moment, Randolph Turpin, is being matched to-night against the swift moving and reputedly clever George Angelo, of South Africa. Victory will carry with it the middle-weight championship of the British Empire and, quite possibly, if Turpin is the winner, which he should be, an early contest for the world title.

The position is that "Sugar" Ray Robinson, who still is the holder, has yet to make up his mind whether to retire profitably to the music-hall stage or to face Turpin for a third time at I1st. 6lb. The Americans themselves have ranked Turpin as next to Robinson, so that, sooner or later, the latter will have to do one thing or the other. The ideal way of settling the situation no doubt would be through a properly appointed and competent international authority. Such a body, however, does not exist, and the British view is that, if Robinson does not agree to meet Turpin in a "decider'" within a reasonable time, his title should go by default. The position still would be wide open to controversy and already the biggest British promoter would seem to have staked his claim by confirming a forecast that Turpin would be matched with the European champion, Charles Humez, a worthy enough opponent.

The American reaction to this will be interesting. Holding, as they do. most of the world titles, they would find it both the wise and sporting thing to welcome some effective opposition from the outside world, for it is by competition that boxing, like everything else, is really kept alive. Some idea of what the sounder American opinion is about another world title in which Turpin has an interest may be gathered from The Ring, a monthly journal possessing a world-wide circulation and commendably international outlook. Its editor, Mr. N. Fleischer, who always is a welcome figure at the British ringside, makes some authoritative comments upon the recent suspension of Joey Maxim, the world cruiser champion, and his manager, Mr. J. Kearns, by the New York Boxing Commission, backed up by the British Boxing Board of Control and the European Boxing Union. This "hot potato," as it is called, has just been cooled a little by the offer of the first body to lift the suspensions if Maxim formally agrees to meet the American challenger, Archie Moore, on the understanding that the winner would then fulfil a previous agreement with J. Solomons, the British promoter, who had booked Maxim for a championship bout with Turpin.

Where, and upon what terms, Turpin would engage in such a contest is not entirely clear, and one cannot help feeling that he would be well advised to concentrate first upon becoming a world middle-weight champion. Mr. Fleischer's knowledgeable paper seems to regard Moore, who is a Negro, as an outstanding fighter in spite of his 36 years. Certainly his ability to score 56 knock-outs in 128 bouts supports the idea that he is a formidable hitter. Even more impressive is his claim to have failed only once to wipe out a defeat by victory in the return bout. That one exception, too, was against Ezzard Charles.

Apparently, in to-night's contest, Turpin's ability to carry the fight effectively to a man supposed to have developed exceptionally clever footwork will be on trial, rather than his own powers of resistance. There also will be a contest for the British fly-weight title between Terry Allen, a recent world champion, and a likely challenger from the north of England in Eric Marsden, of St. Helens. Marsden became a professional three years ago, and since then has had 20 fights. He has lost none of these and drawn only one. What is more, 11 of his fights have been won by the knock-out.

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TURPIN AND ALLEN WIN
Oct 22, 1952 (The Times)

A packed Harringay witnessed two most unusual contests for a title last night. In one, Randolph Turpin, fighting for much more than the Empire Middleweight championship - the right to be considered a possible world champion once more - took the full 15 rounds to assert his superiority over the elusive George Angelo, of South Africa. In the other, Terry Allen regained his British flyweight title when his opponent from the north, Eric Marsden, suddenly collapsed in the sixth round from a muscular injury which had little to do with Allen's punching.

Angelo's main claim to fame rested on his easy footwork which carried him safely round and round the ring with a very occasional quick shoot-out of the left-hand until Turpin in the later stages managed to open some sort of an offensive. For a long time this consisted of nothing more serious than an occasional letting loose of a heavy left and right to the body. The crowd not unnaturally grew restive and twice, first at the end of round two, and later towards the end, also called for more action. Meanwhile Angelo maintained his role of a boxing wraith, scoring lightly to the face every now and then so that Turpin eventually began to look serious as well as puzzled.

In round five Angelo silenced a slow handclap by suddenly springing in and scoring with a quick upper-cut. More than that, it was Angelo who, to the general surprise, answered a rush or two by Turpin with a few quick punches at close quarter. One of these really surprised Turpin, who smiled his appreciation. Decidedly this was a most unusual bout and there must have been a certain sense of frustration in the Turpin camp about halfway even when at long last he did land a telling blow-a right drive to the body. Angelo's physique, however, stood up to it well and his ability to get in, as well as away, persisted.

Turpin first began to fight a little like the effective tiger one knew he could be in round 10, but Angelo still kept out of serious trouble. Turpin more or less maintained his mastery to the end, but only by spasmodic heavy punching. Angelo showed a slight cut over the left eye in the twelfth round, but the referee was not satisfied and he spoke to Turpin. One of Turpin's punches then unbalanced Angelo, but this still was a long way from stopping him. All the excitement came in the last two rounds, when Turpin's pressure gained intensity. He was now really pressing his man to the full, but the long awaited knockout never arrived at all.

There was a certain amount of boxing romance in the appearance of Eric Marsden, of St. Helens, Lancashire, in the contest for the flyweight championship of Great Britain after less than three years' experience as a professional, granted that he had not yet been beaten in his 20 contests so far. Two promoters had had to see something exceptional in him and a former champion in Teddy Gardner had had to relinquish his title before a match could be made with another former champion in Terry Allen.

Marsden revealed himself as an exceptionally tall flyweight, but extremely sparely built and a pound or so lighter than Allen. Lack of experience was soon in evidence, for in a rash exchange of swings and hooks in the second round Marsden went down for a count of eight. Equally so, however, the challenger was able to use his reach and box his openings in the subsequent rounds.

Certainly no one was prepared for what came about in the sixth round. Then, in a not particularly fierce bout of in-fighting, Marsden suddenly dropped his hands and fell flat in obvious pain. No foul blow had been landed and the referee, sensing that something quite out of the ordinary had happened, ceased counting at nine and stopped the fight.

Wisely, Colonel Onslow Fane, in presenting the belt to Allen, explained the situation to the crowd. He declared that Marsden had twisted a muscle over the sciatic nerve and had fallen from sheer pain. The fight showed few signs of being really first class, but it would be unfair to describe its ending as a mere fiasco.

ROBINSON TO FIGHT TURPIN
Dec 12, 1952 (The Times)

Mr. Jack Solomons, the London boxing promoter, announced yesterday that "Sugar" Ray Robinson had agreed to defend his world middleweight championship against Randolph Turpin, the British champion, probably in London during Coronation week next year. Mr. Solomons said that the fight would probably take place at the White City on June. 9, but the possibility of the contest going to Dublin could not be ruled out.

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TURPIN RELINQUISHES A TITLE
Dec 18, 1952 (The Times)

Randolph Turpin, the British middle and light-heavy weight champion, has given up his light-heavy weight title. In a letter to the British Boxing Board of Control yesterday Mr. G. Middleton, his manager, states that Turpin is relinquishing the title as from yesterday, but hopes that the board will give Turpin full support should the opportunity arise for him to fight for a world title at this weight. Turpin won the British and Empire light-heavy weight titles when he defeated Don Cockell on a technical knock-out in the eleventh round on June 10 at the White City this year. Since then he has been given various extensions of time by the board to decide which title he would give up, as, under the board's ruling, no boxer may hold two British titles at different weights at the same time. This is the second title Turpin has given up this year. On October 24 he relinquished his European middle-weight championship to avoid possible entanglements in view of a world title chance.

DECREE AGAINST RANDOLPH TURPIN
June 13, 1953 (The Times)

Mr. Justice KARMINSKI in the Divorce Court yesterday granted a decree nisi of divorce to Mrs. Mary Teresa Turpin, of Queensway, Leamington, Warwickshire, on the ground that her husband, Mr. Randolph Adolphus Turpin, had treated her with cruelty.

Although the suit appeared in the defended list and an answer denying the charges had been delivered, Mr Turpin's counsel informed the Court that he had be instructed not to proceed with the defence or offer any evidence.

The parties were married in 1947.

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TIME MAGAZINE: MILESTONES
June 22, 1953 (Time Magazine)

Divorced. Randolph Adolphus ("Randy") Turpin, 25, Britain's contender for the world middleweight championship; by Mary Theresa Turpin, 26; after six years of marriage, one son; in Leamington, England.

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BOXING CHAMPS NOT SO SECRET WEDDING
Nov 15, 1953 (The Shropshire Star)

Besieged by newspapermen, British Empire middleweight boxing champion and former world champion Randolph Turpin married Miss Gwyneth Price at Edgbaston House register office in Walker Street, Wellington, on November 15, 1953. Miss Price, the daughter of a North Wales hill farmer, was living at the Greyhound Inn, Newport. The couple had tried to keep their Wellington wedding a secret but found about 30 newspapermen waiting outside Edgbaston House before Mr Norman Gwynne, the superintendent registrar, arrived.

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TIME MAGAZINE: MILESTONES
Nov 23, 1953 (Time Magazine)

Married. Randolph Adolphus ("Randy") Turpin, 25, British middleweight boxing champion; and Gwyneth Price, 27, daughter of a Welsh farmer; he for the second time, she for the first; in Wellington, England.

TURPIN MADE HALF MILLION DOLLARS WITH HIS FISTS - NOW A JUNK MAN AT 30
Feb 22, 1959 (The Sunday Gleaner)

In a short, brilliant career pugilist Randolph Turpin learned a lesson that few men in any business ever learn: The ways of earning large money. But he never learned how to keep it. Today, the onetime World Champion who made more than half a million dollars is a junk man.

He drive's about in little Leamington Spa in an old truck picking up scraps of iron, derelict motors and hunks of metal no one else wants. He takes the collection to the junk yard batters it to pieces and sells the scrap. Turpin now 30, does not own the sledgehammer, the truck or the business. But he was once paid $200,000 for a single fight.

In those days Turpin wore expensive suits and custom made shoes. Today he wears grubby work clothes. Then he travelled around Europe and America, living in the best hotels. Now his home is a small house on the back street of an unlovely section of Leamington.

Money came in big and went out big. But as a junk man he is highly successful if he earns from two to four pounds ($5.60 to $11.20) in a 10-hour work day. Seven years ago, Turpin whipped Ray Robinson and won the world middleweight championship.

Eighteen thousand Londoners in Earl's Court Arena sang with delirious joy, "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" while another few thousand outside got drunk just to show how happy Randy had made them. There always seemed to be someone around who wanted an interview.

Looking back it is hard to remember anything Turpin ever said. Actually he didn't saw much. But he read alot - practically all comic books. Once he went into a drug store in America and bout a copy of every comic on the big stand. His hearing always had been poor, and the combination of bad hearing and poor reading made him more and more remote from people.

Turpin was different in other ways. He was a coloured man and both his wives were white. He also was the son of a white mother and a coloured father who came from British Guiana. There was a feeling against negroes here in the British midlands and the Turpin kids were made aware of it.

His father died in 1929 from wartime gas wounds. Turpin's mother, nearly blind, had a 27-shilling a week pension on which to raise three sons and two daughters. The children brought home a little money, but it never accounted to much until the boys got into the fight business.

Only Randy was a good fighter. He began in 1946 and in three years he was whipping fairly good Americans and Europeans. He reached his peak in 1951 then started a headlong fall. In July he took the title from Robinson and in September he lost it back to Robinson in New York. He was knocked out in the 10th, but this was his $200,000 pay night.

Turpin fought Bobo Olson for the world title in 1953, after a weird training programme in which he sparred little and stayed to himself in his New York State camp. Turpin lost and looked so bad he never again was considered anything but a has-been.

During that run of fortune and misfortune. Turpin's personal and financial affairs began to fall apart. Twice he quit and came back. Each time was a disaster. Last fall he was knocked out in the second round of a second rate fight. He thought about that for awhile, and in October he quit again.

The spotlight no longer picks him out of the crowd. Months go by without anyone trying to talk to the junk man of Leamington Spa. When they do he occasionally tells them "I'm not unhappy. I've got a wife and two young daughters. I've got a house (worth no more than $5,000) and a car (worth no more than $1,000)." "I like working at the yard. It keeps my mind off things."

When Turpin isn't at Warwick he's in the junk yard where his old Manager George Middleton says, "He likes to smash up scrap cars and engines." Middleton owns the junk business and gave Turpin the job. "Randy likes labouring," Middleton says, "and that's what I guess he'll be doing all the rest of his life."
 

1963

WRESTLING AT SALTHILL
Aug 10, 1963 (Connacht Tribune)

The large crowd which attended the four bout wrestling tournament in the Hangar Ballroom, Salthill on Sunday afternoon were not only provided with a high standard of wrestling but also with high-class entertainment.

In the main contest of the evening between ex-Middle Heavyweight Champion of the World Randolph Turpin and Ireland's Top Mat Star Cornelius Murphy, Turpin proved not only that he has a great style of boxing but also has a lovely style of Wrestling. Nevertheless his style did not equal that of Murphy's and had Murphy not the misfortune of injuring his back at the end of round four and was unable to come out for round five victory would surely have went to him.